c. 500 BCE
Technology
China
Cast iron
Chinese furnaces reach temperatures that liquefy iron for casting into moulds.
Why it mattered
Mass production of ploughshares, pots and later cannon, 1,500 years before Europe.
Antiquity
500 BCE
3 recorded milestones at this point in the record.
c. 500 BCE
Science
South Asia
Panini's grammar of Sanskrit
Panini specified a language with about 4,000 ordered rules of extraordinary economy.
Why it mattered
A formal generative system anticipating modern linguistics and computing.
c. 500 BCE
Technology
West Africa
Ironworking spreads through the Nok culture
Furnaces in West Africa smelted iron without a prior bronze stage.
Why it mattered
Independent metallurgical tradition in sub-Saharan Africa.
Sign in to amend this page or add a milestone — every edit is signed and kept in the record.